>> smith: manning was taking a big risk. under the army's "don't ask, don't tell" rules, gay soldiers, like manning, were required to keep their sexual orientation secret. his friends also worried about his political activism. >> in his facebook profile, he posted signs and pictures at his presence at rallies. >> smith: gay rights rallies? >> right. this struck me as very dangerous to his position. i mean, i admired him for his... you know, for his courage on this, but i thought it might be a little bit foolhardy. >> smith: during this period, manning also started a relationship with a young man from upstate new york named tyler watkins. on weekends, bradley would visit him in boston, where watkins was studying. during those trips, the young intelligence analyst also found a new group of friends, computer science students and hackers. at the time, wikileaks was already making headlines, and julian assange was an admired figure among hackers. boston opened new doors for manning, but he had a problem back on base. >> he though